Cozying up to the 1%

(Chicago, IL, January 18, 2012) One hundred and twenty-seven organizations in 68 cities have been named finalists for support from ArtPlace, an unprecedented private-public collaboration of nine of the nation’s top foundations, eight federal agencies including the National Endowment for the Arts, and six of the nation’s largest banks. ArtPlace supports creative placemaking with grants and loans, research and advocacy.

The selected projects represent the best of the more than 2,000 applications from across the country. Finalists were chosen for their potential to have a transformative impact on community vibrancy. Proposed projects run the gamut from temporary art spaces to permanent performance venues, from music festivals to art walks and from streetscaping to artist residencies.

ArtPlace expects to distribute $15 million in 2012. This year’s grant recipients will be announced in May. Last year, 34 organizations received a total of $11.5 million.

So far, so good. Burning Man is down to the top 127 from 2000+ applications, and from the list looks like they are well placed to tick all the boxes (see below for full list).

I support Burning Man and hope they win the grant, so they can demonstrate to us all how the Burner principles make a difference in the Tenderloin. However, this new creation “Art Place” which is the source of all the millions makes my nose twitch with the smell of sulfur. In this day and age where “radical inclusion” instead has become a line to get on the World’s Biggest Guest list, and the unemployed 20% protest in solidarity with the 79% who have jobs to Occupy Wall Street, railing against the corruption of the elite 1% at the top of the pyramid…it is interesting to look at what kind of sponsors the new Burning Man Project wants to get into bed with.

Participating foundations include Bloomberg Philanthropies, The Ford Foundation, The James Irvine Foundation, The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, The Kresge Foundation, The McKnight Foundation, The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, The Rockefeller Foundation, Rasmuson Foundation, The Robina Foundation and an anonymous donor. In addition to the NEA, Federal partners are the departments of Housing and Urban Development, Health and Human Services, Agriculture, Education and Transportation, along with leadership from the White House Office of Management and Budget and the Domestic Policy Council. ArtPlace is also supported by a $12 million loan fund capitalized by six major financial institutions and managed by the Nonprofit Finance Fund. Participating institutions are Bank of America, Citi, Deutsche Bank, Chase, MetLife and Morgan Stanley.

So much for radical self-reliance and “economy without commerce”. This seems more like establishing yourself in the Establishment. Is this where the mysterious tickets went? Not to Burners, not to pure Birgins, but to all their new bankster buddies. Maybe if you apply for a new Chase Burner credit card, you’ll get a chance to win a Burning Man ticket and 1% cashback on all your purchases of EL Wire?

The finalists are:

City

State

Organization

Homer

AK

Bunnell Street Art Center

Anchorage

AK

Anchorage Museum Association

Juneau

AK

Juneau Housing Trust, Inc.

Savoonga

AK

Native Village of Savoonga

Sitka

AK

Alaska Arts Southeast, Inc.

Anchorage

AK

Alaska Native Heritage Center

Anchorage

AK

Out North Contemporary Art House

Little Rock

AR

The Oxford American Literary Project

Phoenix

AZ

Roosevelt Row Community Development Corporation

Los Angeles

CA

The New School

Various

CA

Creative Work Fund/Walter and Elise Haas Fund

Yolo County

CA

Yolo County Arts Council dba YoloArts

San Jose

CA

MACLA/Movimiento de Arte y Cultura Latino Americana

San Francisco

CA

San Francisco Planning and Urban Research Association

San Jose

CA

San Jose Public Art

Fresno

CA

Fresno Arts Council

Long Beach

CA

Khmer Arts Academy

Long Beach

CA

Arts Council for Long Beach

Los Angeles

CA

City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs

Los Angeles

CA

Cornerstone Theater Company

Los Angeles

CA

Esperanza Community Housing Corporation

Los Angeles

CA

Los Angeles Philharmonic Association

Los Angeles

CA

Machine Project

Los Angeles

CA

MASS Design Group

Los Angeles

CA

Performing Arts Center of Los Angeles County

Los Angeles

CA

Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc)

Modesto

CA

California State University, Stanislaus College of the Arts

Oakland

CA

City of Oakland Cultural Arts & Marketing

Riverside

CA

City of Riverside – Development Department

San Francisco

CA

Burning Man Project

San Francisco

CA

envelope Architecture + Design (envelope a+d)

Stockton

CA

University of the Pacific

Visalia

CA

Visalia Arts Consortium (Arts Consortium)

Manitou Springs

CO

Business of Art Center

New Haven

CT

Arts Council of Greater New Haven

New Haven

CT

New Haven International Festival of Arts & Ideas, Inc.

Washington

DC

Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company

Miami

FL

Wynwood Arts District Association, Inc.

Miami

FL

Bass Museum of Art

Miami

FL

Miami Light Project, Inc.

Jacksonville

FL

City of Jacksonville Planning and Development Department

Sumerville

GA

Chattooga County, Georgia

Macon

GA

The Corporation of Mercer University

Boise

ID

Trey McIntyre Project

Chicago

IL

6018NORTH

Chicago

IL

Hubbard Street Dance Chicago

Chicago

IL

Redmoon Theater

Chicago

IL

Steppenwolf Theatre Company

Peoria

IL

Tri-County Regional Planning Commission

Chicago

IL

University of Chicago

Indianapolis

IN

Harrison Center for the Arts

Indianapolis

IN

Indianapolis Museum of Contemporary Art (iMOCA)

Whitesburg

KY

Appalshop, Incorporated

Cumberland

KY

Higher Ground Coalition/The Appalachian Program at Southeast Kentucky Community & Technical College